Wall Street Protesters Evicted From Camp

By

Andrew Grossman,

Alison Fox and

Sean Gardiner

November 16, 2011

Occupy Wall Street activists grappled with the future of their movement after a police raid and a day of legal drama ended their hold on a Manhattan park that had become the symbolic center of the world-wide protest.

After protesters were evicted from Zuccotti Park early Tuesday morning it's not clear if the demonstrations will end or if they'll enter a new phase. WSJ's Hilke Schellmann reports from downtown Manhattan.

Police in a predawn sweep cleared out a tent city the protesters had erected in the downtown park, marking a dramatic turn in what has become a vexing saga for New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Later in the day, a judge backed up the mayor's move, ruling in favor of the park's owner, Brookfield Office Properties Inc., that it could enforce rules against camping in the park.

The forced evacuation came as other cities around the world have started to take similar steps, including Toronto, London and Oakland, Calif.

Following the Occupy Wall Street Protests

It wasn't clear whether the eviction in New York will end the protest or push it into a new phase that could be harder for police to control. As unruly as the encampment often was, it was easy for police to monitor since it was in a fixed site.

After the camp in Zuccotti Park was cleared Tuesday, police and protesters again faced off across Lower Manhattan. Some demonstrators tried to set up a new campsite on land owned by an Episcopal church, but police ordered them to disperse and arrested those who didn't comply.

By early Tuesday evening, more than 200 people, including a few journalists, had been arrested in connection with the protests and raid, police said.

Demonstrators held out some hope for much of Tuesday that they would be able to re-create their camp.

Early in the morning, a state judge granted the activists a temporary restraining order barring the city from evicting them, but after the fact.

After a hearing, another judge denied the request, agreeing with the city's contention that camping in a park wasn't free speech protected by the First Amendment. As a result, city officials said, protesters will be allowed back in the park, but won't be allowed to set up camp.

Activists vowed that their protests would persist. Marches and other demonstrations were planned for Thursday, the two-month anniversary of the movement's founding. Some thought the eviction would galvanize their movement, which had become increasingly bogged down in running the miniature society created in the park.

"In a way, this movement is not bound to any central location," said Andrew Carbone, a 26-year-old freelance media coordinator who lives in Brooklyn. "In many ways [the encampment] has made people a little too comfortable."

Police have long had plans for clearing protesters from Zuccotti Park, New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Tuesday morning. And the park's owner, Brookfield, has wanted the city to sweep the park since the early days of the protests. But Mr. Bloomberg said it was his decision alone to send in officers Tuesday.

In recent weeks, New York police officers have been gathering on Randall's Island in the middle of the East River to receive special training in "disorder control," according to a law-enforcement official.

Another police official said that Mr. Kelly let select members of his executive staff know about the plans to clear the park late Monday night. All were sworn to secrecy, the official said.

After their shift ended at midnight Monday, several hundred rank-and-file officers were ordered to muster in Lower Manhattan with riot gear. Only then were they told that they would be conducting a sweep of Zuccotti Park, the official said.

The raid went relatively smoothly as many protesters left on their own. Police arrested 70 people who refused to cooperate, an NYPD spokesman said.

In Canada, officials moved to bring the month-old Occupy Toronto protest in a downtown park to an end, issuing a notice Tuesday advising protesters to remove all tents and immediately leave the park. The city said it would take "necessary steps" to remove the tents if the request wasn't obeyed. As of Tuesday afternoon, there was no sign the camp was being disbanded. London, meantime, resumed legal action Tuesday to evict Occupy protesters, who have been camped on the doorsteps of St. Paul's Cathedral. In a statement, the City of London said obtaining a court order "is likely to take weeks."

About a dozen American mayors have discussed their responses to the Occupy protests on two conference calls hosted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, according to group officials.

Police brought the two-month-old Occupy Wall Street encampment in Zuccotti Park to an abrupt end early Tuesday morning, as hundreds of officers swept in and cleared out protesters and their tents. Andrew Grossman has details on Lunch Break.

On Monday, police in Oakland, Calif., closed down that city's Occupy camp and arrested 33 protesters. Clashes with demonstrators have damaged the political standing of Oakland Mayor Jean Quan. Police used tear gas and rubber bullets to try to disperse the camp Oct. 25, ending in violence.

Mr. Bloomberg sought to distance himself from other mayors in a press conference Tuesday morning.

"I think you have to distinguish between what we are trying to do and what was done in many other places," he told reporters. "In many places, [protesters] were prevented from going back in after safety conditions were improved, to protest. Quite the contrary. Here, we welcome them back in."

Police began to do that Tuesday evening, but with a key caveat: Tents and other sleeping material were banned. Police set up two checkpoints at the park. Officers said they would search people who carried bags that were large enough to conceal camping material. The park, however, is open 24 hours a day to anyone who follows these rules.

Despite the legal setback and a heavy police presence, the mood in Zuccotti Park was celebratory as hundreds of people streamed back in Tuesday evening and hundreds more milled around outside. Some played music while others danced.

—Joseph De Avila, Bobby White, Jeanne Whalen, Carolyn King and Chad Bray contributed to this article.

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.